Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Dissension by Stacey Berg

This
novel got off to a bit of a slow and slightly confusing start but got
me hooked before too long. It is dystopian and takes place four
hundred years after a tragic event. The Church has been functioning
as the ruling presence in the city with a Saint providing the energy
for survival. There is something going very wrong and there may be
only one person who can save the Church from itself – Echo Hunter
367.

I
love sci-fi and really got into this novel about a third of the way
in. I would have liked a little more information and description
setting the stage at the beginning. Once I got into the story line,
however, the plot did grab me and kept my interest.

Hunter
is a clone. She and scores like her have been developed to do the
will of the Church. But it seems Hunter might be defective. She has a
bit of a will of her own and comes to doubt the wisdom of the
leadership. There was not a great deal of character development with
Echo, but as a clone, I am not sure how much she could change anyway.

The
book has many good aspects of a dystopian novel. There is a desert
wasteland outside of the city walls. There is the Church and there
are priests but it is not a religious organization as much as just a
governing body. The priests try to find information from writings to
help them understand surviving machines. There is a restless
community from which the Church obtains young women to carry the
clones to birth. There may even be a rebellion brewing.

This
novel is just the first half of the story. It is a bit depressing and
ends on a less than positive note. But there is a future for Echo
Hunter 367 and I am ready for the sequel.

Stacey
Berg is a medical researcher who writes speculative fiction. Her work
as a physician and scientist has given her inspiration for her stories.
She lives with her wife in Houston. You can find out more at
www.staceyberg.com.

Harper
Voyager Impulse, 400 pages.

I
received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Provident
Book Promotions. My comments are an independent and honest review.

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About Me

I am a retired Christian bookstore owner of 33 years. I still love books and read as many as I can, blogging my reviews. I have also taken up photography and sell photos of Whidbey Island and nearby landscapes.